Is BZB J1450+5201 the most distant gamma-ray BL Lacertae object?

Abstract

BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects at high redshifts (z ≥ 2) are rarely detected. Through careful analysis of its Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectrum, BZB J1450+5201 is confirmed to be a high-z BL Lac object with z ≥ 2.471 by identifying the Lyα 1216 and CIV 1548/1550 absorption lines. This indicates that BZB J1450+5201 is the most distant BL Lac object discovered to date. Careful analysis of the five-year Fermi-LAT data of 2FGL J1451.0+5159 shows that its γ-ray emission is robust with a confidence level of 6.2σ at 1-3 GeV and 6.7σ at 3-10 GeV. This analysis with the five-year data overcomes confusion with its bright neighbor, which is a problem when analyzing the two-year data. In addition, 2FGL J1451.0+5159 is confirmed to be associated with BZB J1450+5201 using the five-year data. The analysis of multiwavelength data, from radio to γ-ray energies, indicates that BZB J1450+5201 is an intermediate synchrotron peaked (ISP) source. Its multiwavelength properties are consistent with distributions of other ISP sources at lower redshifts in the second Fermi-LAT AGN catalog. The pure synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model seems to be disfavored, but the scattering of weak external emission plus the SSC process can provide a satisfactory description of the broadband emission.